We are thrilled to announce the winners of our 2017 Poetry and Fiction Contests, as selected by our esteemed judges Jónína Kirton (poetry) and Sigal Samuel (fiction). Please join us in congratulating the authors!

Room’s Geffen Semach had the chance to ask Jónína a few questions about her newly publish book of poetry, An Honest Woman, her writing practice, and what she will be looking for in a poetry contest submission.

In Anne of Green Gables—that beloved Prince Edward Island saga—Lucy Maud Montgomery wrote, “Tomorrow is always fresh with no mistakes in it.” Well, Lucy Maud Montgomery wasn’t around for 2016. The tomorrows (and yesterdays and todays, hours and even minutes) of 2016 were not only marked by mistakes, but by catastrophic anguish and an alarming amount of apathy. I won’t even mention the mistakes of 2016 in this blog post for fear of giving them more power. If there is power in naming, then I want to give that power to 17 forthcoming books that will surely help remember what bright and remarkable beings we are, and to move forward knowing that possibility always exits. Books do this for us, right? (The answer is damn right.) I name these 17 Books to Read in 2017.

2016 may have sucked, but on the bright side, it inspired some incredible writing (see #3 on this list). Last year we shared our top 15 most-read posts of 2015, and I thought I'd continue the trend—and so, here are the ten most-read posts on roommagazine.com in 2016.

More often than not, when Roomies gather, we talk about books. Books we can't put down, books we couldn't put up with, and books that make us talk. For this reading list, eleven of us got together and discussed novels, short story collections, poetry, memoirs, and comics that we have read and loved which happen to be written by Canadian Women of Colour. A few of these are well-known classics, a few are upcoming releases. There are stories set locally and abroad, and also include one in dystopian Toronto. Writing from the Women of Colour perspective is not a genre, but instead a multitude of voices, stories, and experiences coming together. And even though we are honoured to feature a handful of these writers are in our upcoming anthology, we know that this is just a starting point, and by no means a comprehensive list of books written by Canadian WOCs. At Room, we recognize that there is work to do, and we are already working on a part two.

"Writing has saved my emotional, spiritual, and intellectual life in a country where I wasn’t supposed to exist, let alone thrive. It allows me to sort out the mess of structural inequity, bureaucratic obfuscation, colonial racism, and sexism. It allows a space for my voice and sense of self." Room's 2016 poetry contest judge, Marilyn Dumont talks with Jónína Kirton about writing, identity, race, and politics, and how they intertwine.